Open-width washer



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lllllllll l lllll Patented Feb. 22, 1944 OFFICE OPEN -WIDTH WASHER DavidGessner, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Gertrude C. Gessner, Worcester,Mass.

Application May 16, 1942, Serial No. 434,931

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for washing or otherwise treatingwoolen cloth and certain types of worsted cloth in full or open width,rather than in the more usual rope form.

While particularly designed for washing cloth, my improved machine isalso adapted for other similar purposes, such as carbonizing andneutralizing operations.

It is the generalobject of my invention to provide an open-width washerof improved construction and so designed that operations therein may bemuch morev rapidly and satisfactorily performed.

A-further object is to provide a machine in which the cloth is so guidedthat it is repeatedly and effectively opened out on each face during itspassage through the machine. I also provide improved and simplifiedmeans for applying and maintaining'pressure on the cloth and for feedingthe cloth through the machine, and improved means for rapidly removingthe worn-out suds or scum and entrained dirt from the washing tank.

Another feature of my invention relates to the provision of improveddevices for mixing and agitating the liquid in the tank and suchmaterials as may be added to it.

My invention further relates to certain ar rangements and combinationsof parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularlypointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which iFig. 1 is a sectional end elevation of one of my improved open-widthwashers and a portion of a second washer;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of my improved washer, with certainparts broken away;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial end view, looking in the direction of thearrow 3 in Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged lpartial sectional side elevations, takenalong the lines 44 and 55 left in Fig. 1, or may comprise a plurality ofsuch units which may be combined as also shown in Fig. 1.

Each unit or washer comprises a frame [0 supporting a tank I I in itslower portion and further comprises a large carrying drum or cylinder l2rotatable in fixed bearings I4 (Fig. 3) and preferably having an outercovering l5 of rubber or similar material. For some purposes, the rubbercovering may be replaced with a coating of chrome or nickel on asuitable metal base. The cylinder I2 is mounted on a drive shaft IE towhich power may be supplied from any suitable source to rotate thecylinder continuously during the operation of the machine.

A plurality of guide rolls 20 are segmentally arranged below thecylinder 12, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and each guide roll 20may also be providedwith arubber covering 2!. Each guide roll 20 ismounted on a shaft 22 rotatable in bearing blocks 23 (Fig. 5) at eachend of the washer. These blocks 23 have upwardly extending slideportions 24, loosely mounted in guideways in the fixed end frame of thewasher and held in said guideways by cover plates 25 (Figs. 3 and 5).

Each guide-roll shaft 22'is also provided with a (pulley 21 at each endthereof, by which pulleys the guide-rolls are rotated. An additionalguide pulley 30 is mounted on a fixed bearing 3| at each end of themachine, and a second additional guide pulley 33 is mounted at each endof the machine on the short arm of a lever 34, pivoted at 35 on a fixedbracket 36.

Each lever 34 is pivotally connected to the head 38 (Fig. 3) of a pistonrod 39 which is connected to a piston 40 slidable in a cylinder 4|pivoted at 42 to a fixed bearing block 43. Pipes 44 and 45 selectivelyreceive liquid under pressure from any suitable source of supply or'actas discharge pipes for the cylinders.

Belts 5!! are mounted on the pulleys 30 and 33 and each belt is engagedand driven on its upper run by contact with a drive pulley 5|, fixed tothe cylinder shaft Hi. The lower runs of the belts are disposed outsideof the pulleys 21 on the rolls 20 and engage said pulleys along theirouter portions. The peripheral surfaces of the cylinder l2 and rolls 20are driven at the same speed.

If pressure is supplied through the upper pipes 44, the levers 34 willbe swung counter-clockwise and the belts 50 will be tensioned againstthe drive pulleys 5| and against the guide-roll pulleys 2 1,the sameaction taking place at both ends of er may comprise a single unit asshown at the II theguide-rolls. Such application of pressure to thelevers 34 also causes the roll bearing blocks 23 to slide radiallyinward, so that the rolls 20 engage theiouter face of the cylinder I2 orengage the outer surface f the cloth C, if the machine has been threadedup and is in readiness to operate. By relieving the pressure in thepipes 44 and applying pressure through the pipes 45, the rolls 20 willbe moved outward to provide clearance for re-threading.

My improved washeris also provided with a plurality of fixed rub bars 60(Fig. 1), which bars are preferably of the grooved or corrugated crosssection shown in Fig. 8, with a plurality of projecting ribs orcloth-engaging portions 6| separated by grooves or depressed portions62. These rub bars 60 are also preferably provided with square endportions 54, adapted to be secured in fixed position by U-shaped clamps55 mounted in fixed frame members 56 and secured therein by nuts 51..The bars may be adjusted angularly to present new rubbing surfaces. Theframe members 56 are spaced inward from the end frames of the machine toprovide clearance for parts of the agitating devices to be described.

The tank II has an edge portion I0 (Fig, 1) which is cut away ordepressed to receive an overflow collector II, which may be hooked overthe edge 10 and which extends substantially the full width of themachine. A drain pipe "I2 is provided for the collector II. The tank IIis also provided with a discharge pipe 14 (Fig. 1) controlled by aquick-acting valve 15 and a weighted lever I6. The valve I5 is normallymaintained closed but may be quickly and easily opened by raising thelever 16 to empty the tank.

As the cloth C leaves the washer, it passes around fixed guide-rods 80and 8| (Fig. 1) and into an auxiliary tank 82, preferably filled withclear rinsing water, and then passes between a pair of squeeze rolls 83.A spray pipe 84 is preferably provided to spray the cloth just before itenters the squeeze rolls.

After leaving the squeeze rolls 83, the cloth may pass to any suitablereceptacle or it may be' conducted alongside an additional spray pipe 85and into a succeeding washer which is preferably of the sameconstruction as the washer above described. Thecloth C may be fed to thefirst washer by a pair of feed rolls 90 and may be moistened from aspray pipe 9| as it enters the washer. Three or four or even moresuccessive machines may be used.

The method of threading the cloth through the machine is clearly shownin Fig. 1, with the cloth passing from the feed rolls 90 to the cylinderI2 and around the first guide-roll 20, after which the cloth is carrieddowninto the tank II and around the first rub bar 60. The cloth thenpasses successively around the succeeding guiderolls 20 and rub bars 60,and then passes from the last roll 20 upward to the guide-bars 80 and BIand rinsing tank 82 previously described.

In Figs. 2, 9 and 10 I have shown my improved devices for agitating thecontents of the tank II. These devices comprise cross bars I00 mountedon depending supports I 0| (Fig. 10), the upper ends of which aresecured to carriages I02 mounted on flanged wheels I03 which run ontracks I04 secured to the fixed end frames of the washer. The cross barsI00 and the tracks I04 are preferably made from sections of angle ironwhen the machine is used for washing-but the bars I00 may be of woodwhen used with an acid solut'ton for carbonizing.

The mechanism for driving the agitating devices comprises abelt or chainI I0 (Fig. 9) mounted on sprockets III and H2 which are pivotallysupported on fixed brackets H4. The sprocket II2 has a larger pulley II5associated therewith, which is connected by a belt II6 to a pulley II!on a drive shaft II8, rotated by suitable driving mechanism not shown.

Each carriage I02 has a second depending member II9 (Fig. 10) which isslotted as shown at I20 (Fig. 9) to receive a stud I2I mounted on theassociated belt or chain IIO. Consequently, as the sprockets II2 arerotated through the driving connections above described, the chains III]will be moved continuously in closed paths and the carriages I02 will bemoved back and forth along their tracks I04, thus carrying the agitatingcross bars I00 back and forth from one side to the other of the tank II.It will be understood that the driving mechanism above described ispreferably duplicated at each end of the washer.

These agitating devices are useful in thoroughly dissolving anduniformly mixing the soap with the water when the machine is used for.washing,

and the agitating devices are also particularly useful when the machineis used for carbonizing or neutralizing, as the chemicals used for theseoperations are thereby more uniformly distributed throughout thecontents of the bath.

The amount of squeezing pressure is easily regulated by controlling thepressure of the liquid entering the upper ends of the cylinders 4| (Fig.3). Having described the details of construction of my improved washer,the method of operation and advantages thereof will be readily apparent.As the cloth C passes through the washer at full width and along thepath indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the clothis sharply and reversely bent each time it passes over one of theguide-rolls 20 or under one of the rub bars 60, thus opening up themeshes of the fabric so that the washing liquid will very effectivelyenter the fabric and thereafter be squeezed therefrom. 1 Also, as thecloth passes around the rub bars 60, it is subjected to successiverubbing or washboard actions and is alternately exposed to free accessof the washing liquid to both surfaces as it passes from one rib toanother of the rub bars. I

These successive bending, rubbing and squeezing actions are performedrepeatedly during a single passage of the cloth through the machine, sothat the washing and cleansing of the fabric proceeds at a much morerapid rate than when the cloth is handled in a rope and is squeezed onlyonce and without abrupt bending at each passage through the machine.

Where a further or more complete washing is desired, the cloth may bepassed successively from one washer to another as shown in Fig. 1, andany desired number of washers may be arranged for such successiveoperation, preferably with rinsing tanks as 82, spray pipes as 84, andsqueeze rolls as 83 provided between each two successive machines. Inthis way the washing liquid in one machine is largely removed from thecloth before it enters the next machine and the cloth is rinsed andmerely damp but not wet as it enters the next machine;

By thus handling the cloth at full width and subjecting the cloth tosuccessive bendings or ,foldings in opposite directions, together withsuc- .cessive immersion and extraction operations, I

The wide overflow arrangement shown in Fig. 2 is also of particularimportance, as it rapidly skims of! the spent suds and entrained dirtfrom the upper surface of the washing liquid, thus keeping the liquidmuch cleaner than would be the case if the usual small overflow pipewere provided in one comer of the tank.

The agitating devices are also very useful in keeping the liquid in thetank I l in a uniform condition throughout, which is particularlydesirable if the machine is used for carbonizing and the tank containsan acid solution which must be constantly replenished. It is verynecessary that such an acid solution should be of uniform strengththroughout, and it is also desirable that the subsequently-usedneutralizing bath should also be of uniform strength.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. An open-width washer for woolen or worsted cloth comprising acarrying cylinder rotatable in fixed bearings, a plurality of guiderollsmounted below said cylinder and in segmental relation thereto, means toforce each guide-roll yieldingly inward along a substantially radialpath against said cylinder, means to rotate said carrying cylinder andguide-rolls, a. tank for treatment liquid positioned below said cylinderand guide-rolls, a plurality of rub bars alternating with saidguide-rolls in the path of travel of the cloth and disposed in said tankbelow the normal liquid surface, and means to prevent rotation of saidrub bars.

2. An open-width washer for woolen or worsted cloth comprising acarrying cylinder rotatable in fixed bearings, a plurality of guiderollsmounted below said cylinder and in segmental relation thereto, means toforce each guide-roll yieldingly inward along a substantially radialpath against said cylinder, a tank for treatment liquid positioned belowsaid cylinder and guide-rolls, a plurality of rub bars alternating withsaid guide-rolls in the path of travel of the cloth and disposed in saidtank below the normal liquid surface, means to prevent rotation of saidrub bars, and driving means to rotate said cylinder and each of saidguide-rolls, all at the same peripheral speed.

' 3. An open-width washer for woolen or worsted cloth comprising acarrying cylinder rotatable in fixed bearings, a plurality of guiderollsmounted below said cylinder and in segmental relation thereto, means tomove said guide-rolls simultaneously toward and away from said cylinder,a tank for treatment liquid positioned below said cylinder andguide-rolls, a plurality of rub bars alternating with said guide-rolls ithe path of travel of the cloth and disposed in said tank below thenormal liquid surface, means to prevent rotation of said rub bars, andmeans to rotate said carrying cylinder and guide-rolls.

4. In an open-width washer for woolen or worsted cloth, a carryingcylinder, a plurality of guide-rolls disposed for segmental engagementwith the under side of said cylinder, a large pulley on said cylinder,small pulleys on said guide-rolls, and a driven belt having its upperrun between said large pulley and said small pulleys and'having itslower run below said small pulleys.

5. In an open-width washer for woolen or worsted cloth, a carryingcylinder, 'a plurality of guide-rolls disposed for segmental engagementwith the under side of said cylinder, a large pulley on said cylinder,small pulleys on said guide-rolls, a driven belt having its upper runbetween said large pulley and said small pulleys and having its lowerrun below said small pulleys, and pressure-operated means by which saidbelt is tightened and said guide-rolls are pressed upward against saidcylinder.

6. In an open-width washer for woolen or worsted cloth, a carryingcylinder, a plurality of guide-rolls disposed for segmental engagementwith the under side of said cylinder, a large pulley on said cylinder,small pulleys on said guide-rolls, a driven belt having its upper runbetween said large pulley and said small pulleys and having its lowerrun below said small pulleys, radially-slidable bearing blocks for eachguide-roll, and pressure-operated means by which said belt is tightenedand said guide-rolls are pressed upward against said cylinder.

- DAVID GESSNER.

